State hopes to create Southern gateway to Boston

Mass. officials want to develop a large swath of state-owned property between Chinatown and South Boston that could eventually host homes, offices, stores, and public parks.

Opinion

Has Romney already won Iowa?

The only way the Iowa vote was going to derail Mitt Romney’s candidacy would be if it produced a rival with serious credibility. It has not, writes Peter S. Canellos.

Iowa evangelical bloc fractured over GOP candidates

Despite a recent surge in the polls for Rick Santorum, voters in Iowa who identify with the religious right said they see Mitt Romney as the nearly inevitable nominee.

Pushed out of Harvard, professor returns fire

Professor Subramanian Swamy’s dismissal by his peers at Harvard, after he had penned a newspaper column that many saw as hateful towards Muslims, has stirred a debate over free speech.

Evan McGlinn for The Boston Globe

Want to lose weight in the new year? Apps can help

Thousands of smartphone applications are available to track weight loss, analyze jogs or bike rides, or monitor heart rate and blood pressure.

Billy St. Croix says his family was shattered by his father, Stephen ‘‘The Rifleman’’ Flemmi, and James ‘‘Whitey’’ Bulger.

Flemmi son says gangster’s kin also victims

Breaking his silence, Billy St. Croix says his family was shattered by his father, Stephen ‘‘The Rifleman’’ Flemmi, and James ‘‘Whitey’’ Bulger.

Dan Shaughnessy

The way I see it, Patriots are a mirage

These guys aren’t going anywhere near Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis. Something bad is going to happen at Gillette Stadium before this month is over.

“The people who cut me out are leftists who have nothing to do with economics . . . It’s almost like the Spanish Inquisition — they didn’t give me a chance.”

Subramanian Swamy, on his dismissal from Harvard by fellow professors 

Metro

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The area behind NewStreet at the corner of Sumner Street, with an expansive viewof Boston Harbor, is the site of a proposed NewStreet project in East Boston.

Menino called key to East Boston hopes

If anyone can spur real growth along a section studded with crumbling piers and faded promises, many believe, it is Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Nation & World

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Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters assist a man out of his apartment along with a cage of birds as multiple cars burn in a carport in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011.

Los Angeles police question person of interest about arsons

A ‘‘person of interest’’ was taken into custody for questioning in connection with the dozens of suspicious car fires that have hit Los Angeles city since last week.

Sports

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Patriots 49, Bills 21

Patriots Antwaun Molden, Devin McCourty, and Patrick Chung appeared to walk on air following McCourty’s interception against the Bills in the regular-season finale yesterday at Gillette Stadium.

Patriots earn top seed in AFC

New England locked up home field advantage in the AFC playoffs by virtue of its 49-21 win against Buffalo, though once again it took a come-from-behind effort.

Health and wellness

G Force

Mindful of ways to get healthy

Jon Kabat-Zinn is a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and founding director of its Stress Reduction Clinic.

Arts

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MUSIC REVIEW

Styles P turns on the chaos

Styles P's show at Showcase Live was perpetually chaotic, perplexingly unpredictable, briefly violent, altogether unhinged, and still somehow genuinely fun.